Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Calipers for wheel truing stand

Parts:

The caliper is mostly made up of steel scraps that I had on-hand, but if you had to buy everything it’d probably cost about $20-25 from your local hardware depot.

1 in. x 1 in. x ? in. steel angle, total of 12 linear inches
1 in. x ? in. steel flat bar, total of 6 ½ linear inches

2 x #6-32 x 1” machine screws
4 x #6-32 nuts
1 magnet (I used a 40mm 15 lb pull round magnet from Harbor Freight, but anything similar would be fine)

Equipment:

You’ll need the following equipment:
- angle iron notcher
- drill press, 5/32 in. bit
- cold saw or vertical bandsaw
- welder
- Dremel tool with cutting disk
- hand file
- grinder


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Raspberry Mead

This is hands down the best mead I make. It's easy and DELICIOUS. And it won the praise of my local homebrew guy, who also happens to the be National Meadmaker of the Year for 2003. So I must have done something right!

This instructable is for a 5 gallon batch (roughly 25 bottles). You can scale it up or down to whatever you plan on making. You'll need 3 pounds of honey and roughly 6 ounces of raspberries per gallon. Honey is expensive. I have since made a Raspberry Wine, exactly like this, but with Dextrose (Corn Sugar) as the fermentable sugar instead of honey. It's considerably cheaper. BUT, you can no longer call it a Mead. And there will be obvious texture/mouth-feel/flavor differences. But they are both delicious. If you do end up going the sugar route, you don't need 3 pounds/gallon, closer to 2 pounds/gallon. Use your hydrometer to fine tune, you're aiming for about 1.10 or so as the starting gravity. I think I ended up needing about 12 pounds of dextrose. Anyway, on to what you'll need. I'm assuming you've brewed before and already have basic brewing equipment. If not, take a look at my other Instructables, or any of the other ones on this site to see what you need.

5 gallons of honey. I got my honey from http://www.flyingbeeranch.net/. These are the nicest people in the world, and their honey selection is AMAZING. I've also used Dutch Gold for bulk (60 pound bucket), or worked out deals with local apiaries. What turned me on to Flying Bee Ranch was their selection and prices. Really good. I went with the tried and true Orange Blossom. But I imagine if the Raspberry honey is available, that would work quite nicely as well.

32 ounces of Raspberries. It's hard to say precisely how much I used, I was very fortunate that my Aunt had several raspberry bushes and would pluck the best ones for me. I asked for about 2 pints. Store bought bags are just as good. The trick I've mentioned before is to freeze them. Allegedly this breaks the cell walls of the raspberries, which caused them to release more flavor. Whether that's true or not, I can't say. But that's what I do.

Yeast. For this first batch, I used Lalvin 71B. https://www.midwestsupplies.com/lalvin-wine-yeasts-5-grams-71b-1122-narbonne.html?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=google&gdftrk=gdfV24959_a_7c1306_a_7c6184_a_7c8830&gclid=COKavfjF4bcCFVSe4AodUgYAUQ I read that it's supposed to be a nice pairing with fruit. But it fermented extremely fast and had some initial off flavors that took a while to tame out. Some of that was because it was quite hot. Since then, I used Lalvin D47. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/lalvin-wine-yeasts-5-grams-1cv-d-47-white-wine.html. I've never had a problem with this yeast, everything has always came out delicious.

Yeast Nutrient. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermaidk.html This is a good one. I've also had success using regular yeast nutrient/yeast energizer. And frankly, I'm not even sure it needs it. The raspberries will provide a decent amount of nutrition.

Spring Water to fill the rest of your carboy up. I'd avoid city water since it has some chemicals in it. Not to say it won't be good, but if you can get a good, clean water source, use it.


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Convert Pandora Stations to Spotify Playlists with a Chrome Extension

Convert Pandora Stations to Spotify Playlists with a Chrome Extension

Chrome: If you're a frequent Pandora user who also likes Spotify, you know that it kind of stinks you can't get the two services working together. Pandora to Spotify Playlist Converter is an extension that makes this more possible by bringing your Pandora likes and radio stations into Spotify.

Pandora to Spotify Playlist Convertor works in a few different places in Pandora. With the extension installed, just head over to your Pandora page, and select either an artist radio station or your likes. Then Click the Pandora to Spotify button, and the extension builds a playlist for you. Copy the link and enter it in Spotify. Whether you're bouncing around between different stations or you just want a collection of all the tracks you've liked on Pandora, this extension does the job.

Pandora to Spotify Playlist Converter | Chrome Web Store via MakeUseOf


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Weotta Finds Activities Based on Your Location, Schedule, and Interests

Weotta Finds Activities Based on Your Location, Schedule, and Interests

Plenty of sites exist to find restaurants and activities, but generally speaking you get a list of options and sort through them. Weotta takes your current situation into account, as well as your interests, to find you the best thing to do when you want to do it.

On top of information and events Weotta curates automatically in about 400 U.S. cities, you get more if you sign in via Facebook. Weotta will pay attention to what your friends do if they also use the app and make suggestions based on their interests, too. You can quickly provide tips about a place or event you liked, too, by quickly rating the activity. If you don't want suggestions, but rather want to find something specific, you can search from it and Weotta will provide you with options based on your query. For example, if you wanted a good restaurant near a concert open late, when the show is over, you can search for just that. Results never get limited to the big and obvious—smaller, lesser-known yet great activities and restaurants show up in your suggestions as well. If you're looking for new stuff to try, fire up Weotta and follow a suggestions. It might just help cure your boredom this weekend.

Weotta (Free) | iTunes App Store


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What's the Fastest Way to Peel a Bunch of Garlic?

If you've spent any time in the kitchen, you know how to knife-smash and peel a clove of garlic. But what should you do when a recipe calls for a whole bulb or more? The chefs at Stack Exchange have the answer.

How should I approach peeling a clove of garlic to get the skin off quickly? Is it different if I'm doing a bulb whole?

See the original question.

Even with a whole bulb, break it into cloves. Put clove(s) on a cutting board. I usually cut off the root end of each clove. Lay a large chef's knife flat on the clove, then smack the knife to crush the clove. This breaks the skin of the clove and makes it much easier to peel.

Note: Be sure NOT to use a ceramic knife. It can easily break.

The trick is that you're bruising the clove of garlic a little bit so the paper will release easier. If you're using a bulb or less, it's not too bad to do the side of the knife press method, but if you're cooking up a recipe that calls for a dozen heads, there's an alternate trick:

Break the head into cloves.Put the cloves into a sealable hard-sided container much larger (10x or more) than the garlic.Shake the hell out of it for about 15-30 seconds. Pull out the cloves, and the paper should come off easily.If cloves are still difficult to release, shake longer and more vigorously.Repeat for the remaining bulbs. You can do this with two metal bowls of the same size, pressing together the lip on the rims while shaking.Note: I don't recommend plastic containers, as you might impart a garlic flavor to them that will be difficult to remove.

Check out this great video on peeling garlic. It's basically the same method as that described in Joe's answer: Smash the head, put it all (if you need a whole head of garlic) in a large metal bowl, put another metal bowl on top, but upside down (so that the rims overlap), and shake hard for several seconds.

I call them "Garlic Cannoli." (Actually, they're called, simply, "garlic peelers.") For Christmas, I gave my wife one of these as a stocking-stuffer. I had seen them in kitchen gadget stores for years, but was always reluctant to get one, believing it was another useless, cheap gadget. I was wrong! I used to peel garlic using a knife, but now, I can peel a clove every five seconds.

It's essentially a silicon or rubber tube. You place the clove inside and lightly press it and roll it on the counter, like you're forming a baguette. Penny for penny, I've never had such a useful gadget (except maybe a silicon spatula).

Disagree? Find more answers or leave your own at the original post. See more questions like this at Seasoned Advice, the cooking site at Stack Exchange. And of course, feel free to ask a question yourself.


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What's the Best Life Hack Your Dad Taught You?

This Sunday, many of us are celebrating an important person in our lives. That's right, good old Dad. In honor of the occasion, let's share some of the wisdom or just smart tricks we've learned from our fathers.

Maybe your father was a role model of ingenuity, introducing you to the myriad uses of duct tape. Maybe he taught you the value of spending less than you earn and the magic of compounding. Maybe he had a ton of MacGyver tricks up his sleeve.

What's the best life hack you learned from your dad?


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